Since my return from Europe a little over a week ago, my boyfriend has riddled me with handfuls of questions:

What did you eat? What did you see? What did you buy? Were you hit on? Did you miss me? Where's my chocolat?

Yesterday the line of questioning continued when he asked me if French people smelled as badly as they have been rumored to.

Au contraire, mon amour. My sensory recall can instantly bring back the aromas that I will now forever associate with my journey to France... the warm French bread, croissants and crepes baking in the back of the corner bistros, the tantalizing whiff of garlic and roasting chicken in the evenings, the delightful yet unStarbucks like scent of café allongés and espressos to start the day. Perhaps I'm romanticizing a bit, but I could swear that even the manure in the glorious gardens (jardins) smelled intoxicating.

France is also the perfume capital of the world, and I was thrilled that dozens of perfumeries and beauty shop windows featured posters advertising Christian Dior's Miss Dior Cherie, the very same fragrance that this American girl had checked in her baggage in preparation for her grand Parisian adventures.

I was happy to fit in, especially when I was handed samples of the stuff while strolling along the Champs-Élysées. Although I returned home with a pair of exclusively French parfums that I could never score in the states, I realized that I can still smell like the French with scents sold in my own backyard. Here are a few of my go-to French favorites.

Miss Dior Cherie - Fragrance X features the current olfactory fad aforementioned. I'll always have a soft spot for this scent since it was gifted to me by my best mon amis on my last birthday.

Chanel No. 5 - Fragrance X also features this iconic classic that will never go out of style. The French government reports that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every thirty seconds. It takes me longer than that to apply deoderant...there goes another bottle.

Fracas - It may not sound extremely appealing, but this creation by French couturier, Robert Piguet, is a secret of the French elite. Be prepared, it is très expensive at $95 for a quarter of an ounce.

Parisienne - Would a perfume by any other name smell as sweet? Up for grabs at Perfumania is Yves Saint Laurent's newest French fragrance offering that evokes soft notes of rose petals, violets, sandalwood and musk.

In short, the French smell very good, especially when they're wearing the fragrances I've mentioned above.

Have a beautiful day, and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers (fleurs).